I'm inspecting the battlefield
The night before the battle. Before it's cluttered
With the debris of journalistic camp-followers
When Hornbeck tells this to Rachel, he's telling her that
he was getting ready for the next day's events. In war books,
the authors usually mention how quiet everything is, how
it seems peaceful until the day of the battle. Then, it becomes
hectic and crowded with soldiers. In this case, the battle
is with Brady, Bert and Drummond. Since the entire Hillsboro
town is with Brady, if he is proven wrong and lost the 'battle'
the entire town will be in chaos which is the 'debris' Hornbeck is
talking about.
I'm inspecting the battlefield
The night before the battle. Before it's cluttered
With the debris of journalistic camp-followers
When Hornbeck tells this to Rachel, he's telling her that
he was getting ready for the next day's events. In war books,
the authors usually mention how quiet everything is, how
it seems peaceful until the day of the battle. Then, it becomes
hectic and crowded with soldiers. In this case, the battle
is with Brady, Bert and Drummond. Since the entire Hillsboro
town is with Brady, if he is proven wrong and lost the 'battle'
the entire town will be in chaos which is the 'debris' Hornbeck is
talking about.